


talking to the moon

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bartenders, Drinking to Cope, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Sokka is angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: kyoshi bar in new york city attracts all kinds of people on a day to day basis — but in all her time working there, suki has never seen as dejected a man as the one who walks in during her night shift. turns out he’s got a lot on his mind.
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	talking to the moon

It had taken nothing short of a year for Suki to work her way up to her spot behind the bar. The work beforehand was tedious; restocking shelves, cleaning the sticky counters, and taking the worst shifts. Now, Suki was proud to say she knew her way around Kyoshi's Bar like the back of her hand, and the rest of the employees looked up to her — or at least, she hoped they did.

Most of Suki's skill had come from experience. She'd been taught by the owner, Kyoshi, a woman who looked a lot younger than she most certainly was and always the tallest person in the immediate vicinity. For a bar owner, she certainly looked the part, but her employees were all very different.

Most of them were women, but perhaps the most talented male bartender was Haru, who could whip up a martini in five seconds flat and had created twice that many drinks on the menu. He wasn't such a good listener, though, and that was an unspoken requirement.

Suki thrived the most during busy hours, when the bar was flooded with people; She would call out instructions and the others would listen. Everyone behind the bar had their specialties. Haru had speed, Ty Lee was fast and agile, with the ability to balance countless drinks and not spill, and so on.

The only struggle was that most of Suki's friends were daybreakers. Their hours were so different from hers that they hardly ever saw each other.

Still, that was what happened when interesting college majors were scarce. Suki had dropped out in the middle of freshman year, and sometimes she did regret it, but she did what she had to do to make money.

Sometimes she wished she'd never agreed to take this job, though — and today was one of those days. It was a late shift, much later than Suki usually worked, and the middle of the week. No one partied on a Tuesday night.

Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, Suki picked at a stubborn stain on the counter with her thumb that had been there for the past two days. No matter how hard she scrubbed, dried liquor was just impossible to remove.

The small tinkling sound of the bell hanging off the door made Suki look up and raise her eyebrows. Honestly, she didn't know why she was surprised, because the man that walked in was, unfortunately, a familiar face.

"Not this idiot again," came a bored voice from her left.

"We've had worse," Suki pointed out, making Mai roll her eyes and stalk away just as the man plopped down at a bar stool directly in front of her. She cleared her throat and straightened up. "Hey, what'll it be for you?"

The man looked up, and Suki almost startled from how bloodshot his eyes were. "The usual," he mumbled dejectedly.

"Um. . ." Suki stared at the man's long, nimble fingers picking at the same stain she'd been trying to pry off mere seconds before. "Sorry, sir, but you've gotten something different every day this week."

It seemed to take him a moment to process what she'd said. After a moment, the man's shoulders slumped forward and he buried his face in his hands, letting out a pitiful groan. "Ugh."

"Hm," Suki agreed. "Can I take your order, or will you just sit here all night?"

"Both."

Suki blinked. Cleared her throat. "Okay!" she said brightly. "I'll choose for you — scotch, single malt."

"Urgh. Yeah," mumbled the man, his words muffled from behind his hands.

As Suki prepared his drink, she studied him. Apart from his dreadful dark circles and. . . _interesting_ scent, Suki supposed he wasn't bad-looking — his hair was shaved on either side and pulled into a ponytail at the back, and he had an eyebrow piercing. Still, taking home a guy while he was drunk was a big no-no. The least she could do, however, was offer him a taxi when he left.

She slid the drink across the counter, where it bumped his elbow lightly. The man looked up and eyed the drink in a way that was slightly concerning, then picked it up and downed it in one gulp, making Suki gape at him.

"Uh, I think that's enough for tonight," she said, grabbing the empty glass from the man's hand and gently setting it down in the sink.

"Wha—" the man pouted and reached for the cup like a baby reaching for a toy. "But I only had one!"

"Here, or in general?"

This seemed to shut him up. Approximately two seconds later, though, he asked, "So what's your name, anyway?" 

Ah, Suki thought. The classic. _Flirting_.

So, instead of humouring him, she just tapped her name tag — which she'd decorated with the bisexual flag in glitter Sharpies — and smiled. Surprisingly, the man didn't make a comment.

Well. . .

"Suki, eh?" he asked. "Tha's good. Ver — very sexy. You know, 'cause they sound the same? Suki, sexy?"

"Yes," Suki said dryly. "I get it."

"I'm Sokka, by the way," he said cheerfully. "And this is, um, Suki—"

"Oh, he's way too drunk for his own good," Ty Lee pointed out from behind Suki, who jumped.

"God, I hate it when you do that," she hissed.

"Sorry," Ty Lee said, taking Sokka's cup from Suki and turning around to wash it. Before she walked away, she leaned in and whispered: "He's kinda cute. . . shoot your shot."

Suki rolled her eyes and ignored her.

"So," Sokka began, his words slightly slurred. "Aren't you gonna have something?"

"No. . ." Suki said slowly, turning back to him. "I don't drink on the job."

"What?" Sokka spluttered. "But this is a bar!"

"And?"

"I dunno," Sokka mumbled, propping his head up on his hand. "Can I have a whiskey?"

This was where she reached a dilemma. Kyoshi was strict about not refusing anyone's orders, among other things, but. . . Sokka looked like he'd collapse on the spot if he had anything else. Suki cleared her throat, deciding it'd be better not to get yelled at, even if she'd already taken Sokka's drink once.

"How'd you like it?" she asked, really hoping it wouldn't be —

"Straight."

Suki exhaled slowly. This wasn't good. 

"Which I'm not, by the way," Sokka added, making Suki turn around to stare at him from where she was filling up another glass. "I'm bisexual." Sokka suddenly frowned. "I think. I don't know. I like guys, but girls too. . . people are difficult."

It took all of Suki's willpower not to openly agree, because this conversation was getting a little personal for her taste, but she did have another question. "Do you normally announce your sexuality to everyone you meet?"

Sokka smirked. "Only pretty people."

Suki flushed. "You're very drunk, you know that?" 

"Yeah." Sokka picked at his fingernails. "Can I have the whiskey?"

Wordlessly, Suki set the drink down on the counter in front of him. She watched him drink it, slowly this time, and couldn't help but wonder — what had happened? It had to be something, because only grief-stricken people came in during the week.

Maybe he'd recently lost a parent. Those patrons tended to drink much more than was good for them.

Several drinks later, Suki realized with a start that she had to close the bar. It was well past two in the morning, and if Kyoshi found out she'd closed late again, she was so fired.

Letting out a sigh, Suki casually looped a thumb through the belt hole in her jeans and considered Sokka for a moment. He was staring at the ceiling, clutching his glass with both hands, and looking considerably worse than he had when he'd come in.

"Sir," Suki began, putting a hand on the counter. "We're closing soon, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Aw," Sokka said quietly. "I was having fun!"

"You were staring at the ceiling," Suki deadpanned.

"The ceiling is beautiful," Sokka protested, crossing his arms. "Like —" his voice broke, and he blinked rapidly. "Like the moon. . ."

Suki's eyebrows knit together in confusion and she glanced at the ceiling. "Uh. Sure," she said. "Can I walk you out?"

At this sentence, Sokka's back straightened and he smiled, all sadness forgotten. "You can walk me home, if you like," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Mere seconds later, Sokka's face fell again, and his lower lip trembled. "Yue walked me home from work once. . ."

Of course, Suki realized. He was going through a breakup.

She pursed her lips and emerged from behind the bar. Luckily, she had practice escorting drunk people out — she slung an arm under Sokka's shoulders and hoisted him up, slightly surprised at how tall he was, and supported him as she walked him to the door.

Suki let go and gestures to the sidewalk, slightly regretting leaving Sokka alone, then remembered the fleeting thought she'd had when he dame in. She could get him a taxi; they were everywhere around these parts.

"Come on," she urged. "Let me help you." 

Sokka seemed to give into this and walked out, swaying slightly, while Suki rested a hand on his shoulder to keep him upright. They stopped at the curb and Suki spotted a taxi — she raised her arm, about to hail it when she hard Sokka giggle stupidly from behind her.

Her arm fell to her side and she sighed. "What are you laughing about?"

"Isn't the moon _funny?"_ Sokka slurred, swaying dangerously. "It looks like a smiley face!"

"Okay, you need to sit down." As Suki eased Sokka to the curb, she spotted Ty Lee and Haru cleaning up while Mai rearranged the chairs and felt a surge of gratitude.

Sokka sighed heavily. "Katara says I shouldn't drink to cope," he mumbled.

"She's right," Suki said reproachfully.

"I know," Sokka sighed, then stared at his hands in his lap. "Don't tell her I said that."

Suki sat down beside him, and couldn't help the fondness she suddenly harbored for him; they'd only known each other a week, but Suki could tell he was hurting. She glanced to the side and startled slightly when she realized Sokka was crying — not sobbing, necessarily, but tears were streaming down his cheeks as he hastily tried to wipe them away.

"Are you okay?" Suki asked, then internally slapped herself, because no, Sokka was most definitely not okay.

Echoing this thought, Sokka shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, which he'd let out of his ponytail. His dark locks framed his jawline in a way she'd never seen before, but Suki shook herself out of her admiration, because _by god_ she'd never seen anyone this dejected, this stricken.

And so she reached out and wrapped an arm around Sokka's shoulders, to which he turned into her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. It was unfamiliar, but Suki welcomed it nonetheless. There they sat, the two of them on the curb while car after car rushed by, their headlights painting beams of light in the darkness while Sokka's shoulders shook and Suki closed her eyes, wondering what in the world could have happened to give the man such heartbreak.

The collar of Suki's shirt was wet with tears, but she didn't care. This man, a complete stranger to boot, was crying on her shoulder. This is new, she thought absent-mindedly.

"Hey, look," Suki said hesitantly, and Sokka pulled away, blinking rapidly, his cheeks shining with fresh tears. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

"Yeah," Sokka whispered.

A beat of silence passed. Suki bit her lip and glanced at the window of the bar. "Wait here."   
  


* * *

Suki had never driven anyone from the bar home before. Sokka had, miraculously, stopped crying and was now staring out of the window like someone in a sad music video. She kept glancing at him while she followed the GPS address she'd been given; he still didn't look too good. 

As they drove, Suki observed the unfamiliar area. It was quaint, very different from what she was used to, and she couldn't believe it was apart of the city. According to the map on her phone, they had twenty minutes to go.

"You ever lost someone?" Sokka said suddenly, tapping the dashboard rhythmically.

Suki frowned. "No one close to me," she said quietly. "I mean, my grandma died when I was a kid, but. . ." She shrugged and made a right turn. "Not really."

"Oh," Sokka replied, his voice hushed. "Sorry."

"Well, I didn't realize we were getting all deep," Suki commented. "What about you?"

Sokka inhaled sharply, and Suki realized she'd made a mistake — that question was too personal. But Sokka had asked her first. . .

"Yeah," he said after a moment of tense silence. A car honked a little down the road. "My mom."

"Oh," Suki whispered. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Sokka answered. He blinked slowly, and Suki remembered, out of nowhere, that he was still slightly drunk. "But. . . my girlfriend died on the moon."

This made Suki jump in her seat and almost get into a fender-bender with the car in front of her. "Wait — what?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sokka closed his eyes. "Last time I told that to someone, he just said that's rough, buddy," he said. "So. . . I guess your reaction was an improvement?" He said it as a question, which only confused Suki more.

She could tell he wasn't lying, so she just continued driving and asked, "Was she an astronaut or something?"

"Yeah, actually," said Sokka. "Her name was Yue."

He'd mentioned the name before, and both times, it had sounded familiar. Yue. . . "Whoa," Suki breathed. "You dated that astronaut who was on the first moon mission in, like, three decades?"

She chose not to mention the fact that the mission had been a fail, because that was just plain insensitive, but as she pulled into a small driveway, she knew exactly what Sokka was thinking — how did she know about that?

"I like space," Suki said apologetically. "What can I say?"

"Right," Sokka said, reaching for the door handle. "Me too."

Suki smiled and reached out to put a hand on Sokka's shoulder — but before she could, she found Sokka leaning in, closer and closer until their lips met, tender and soft as they leaned across the space between the two seats. It was short, and when Suki pulled away she immediately regretted it, but as Sokka's cheeks flushed with shame, a tiny smile emerged.

He stepped out of the car and pulled on the jacket he'd been holding. Before he closed the passenger door, Sokka lifted his hand in a tiny wave.

"Come back sometime," Suki suggested, her hand on the steering wheel.

"Yeah." Sokka smiled goofily. "I will."

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you guys liked this! i recently started an ao3 account because i’ve been super into oneshots lately, but my wattpad is @creeveycolins if you’d like to go follow me :) 
> 
> — ainsley


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